Summation will make you think ... by Auren Hoffman ... since 1997 ...

Mar 27, 2008

Men are from Video Games, Women are from Social Networks

The
gender gap on social media is growing

It’s no
shock either that men and women act very different online. The web is an extremely social medium, with
Web 2.0 being all about social. Men traditionally
are early adopters, especially when it comes to tech, but when it comes to
social media, women are at the forefront.

At Rapleaf we conducted a study of 13.2 million people and how they are using social
media. While the trends among the sexes indicate
they are both massively using social media, women are far outpacing men - here
is our hypothesis as to why:

Just the facts, madam

For those
under 30, women and men are just as likely to be members of social
networks. Sites like Facebook, MySpace,
and Flixster are extraordinarily popular. But we found that young women are much more active on these sites then
young men. And for people above 30, men
– especially married men – aren’t even joining social networks.. With the notable exception of LinkedIn usage and
VCs in the Bay Area friending everyone on Facebook, married men are not hanging
out on social networks. Married women,
however, are joining social networks in droves. In fact, women between the ages 35-50 are the fastest growing segment on
social networks, especially on MySpace.

Looking further
into this trend, we believe that young men spend as much time (and sometimes
more) in front of a computer than young women. And they have just as much free time, if not more. But we believe the
competition for their computer time comes from spending hours playing video
games such as World of Warcraft and many first-person action games.

Many men
who play casual games tend to like games like poker with betting involved. Since most social networks ban gambling, men
find sites (most of them offshore) that allow them to wager when they play. Women on the other hand are large consumers
of casual games and most social networks, especially those that are dominated
by third party applications, are essentially big casual game networks. Young women also spend much more time
decorating their social network profile pages, making slide shows, and more. Popular sites such as Whateverlife.com
exacerbate this effect by offering and catering MySpace layouts to young women.

So while
young men and women are signing up for social networks at a similar rate, young
women are “throwing more sheep” at people.

Now young
men understand that they can’t spend ALL their time playing video games (though
some do) as they still need to interact with the opposite sex. Sex is one of the strongest drivers of
online usage and many men see social networks as a gateway to potentially
filling that desire. Men, in general, tend
to look at things more transactionally than women. Once men get married, they see increasingly
less value in being on a social network. Which, of course, is why married men dominate LinkedIn - the most
transactional social network (with the exception of AdultFriendFinder). LinkedIn is all about getting information and
introductions now.

Women, on
the other, hand are much more relationship driven and less transactional than
men. They spend more time on social
networks building relationships, communicating with friends, making new
friends, and more. Married women put up
pictures of their immediate family on social networks and use their social
network profile as a family home page to share with friends and relatives.

With all
this happening, we’re witnessing a burgeoning gender gap.

Just take
a look at RockYou and Slide, two dominant photo widget sites, These sites are very clearly targeting young
women, down to the fact that they have traditional feminine colors (i.e. purple
and pink), glitter text everywhere, and are almost exclusively decorated with pictures
of women. They don’t even give men lip
service on their site. Both companies do
have a few niche Facebook applications that target men, but the fact these
applications are hidden and often marketed under different brands proves that
that women rule this space.

If you
are creating a new Web 2.0 site and you want to go viral, you target
women. Young women drive virality and so
all the new innovation is targeted towards them. That means that the gender gap on social
networks (and increasingly in all of social media) is only going to widen. More and more innovation will be targeted
towards women and they will continue to get more engaged. And while we expect men’s adoption to social
media to continue to increase, it will likely be slower than the rate of adoption
by women.

There may
actually be some truth in the old adage that “men are from Mars” and “women are
from Venus”, even in the online domain.

Comments

Men are from Video Games, Women are from Social Networks

The
gender gap on social media is growing

It’s no
shock either that men and women act very different online. The web is an extremely social medium, with
Web 2.0 being all about social. Men traditionally
are early adopters, especially when it comes to tech, but when it comes to
social media, women are at the forefront.

At Rapleaf we conducted a study of 13.2 million people and how they are using social
media. While the trends among the sexes indicate
they are both massively using social media, women are far outpacing men - here
is our hypothesis as to why:

Just the facts, madam

For those
under 30, women and men are just as likely to be members of social
networks. Sites like Facebook, MySpace,
and Flixster are extraordinarily popular. But we found that young women are much more active on these sites then
young men. And for people above 30, men
– especially married men – aren’t even joining social networks.. With the notable exception of LinkedIn usage and
VCs in the Bay Area friending everyone on Facebook, married men are not hanging
out on social networks. Married women,
however, are joining social networks in droves. In fact, women between the ages 35-50 are the fastest growing segment on
social networks, especially on MySpace.

Looking further
into this trend, we believe that young men spend as much time (and sometimes
more) in front of a computer than young women. And they have just as much free time, if not more. But we believe the
competition for their computer time comes from spending hours playing video
games such as World of Warcraft and many first-person action games.

Many men
who play casual games tend to like games like poker with betting involved. Since most social networks ban gambling, men
find sites (most of them offshore) that allow them to wager when they play. Women on the other hand are large consumers
of casual games and most social networks, especially those that are dominated
by third party applications, are essentially big casual game networks. Young women also spend much more time
decorating their social network profile pages, making slide shows, and more. Popular sites such as Whateverlife.com
exacerbate this effect by offering and catering MySpace layouts to young women.

So while
young men and women are signing up for social networks at a similar rate, young
women are “throwing more sheep” at people.

Now young
men understand that they can’t spend ALL their time playing video games (though
some do) as they still need to interact with the opposite sex. Sex is one of the strongest drivers of
online usage and many men see social networks as a gateway to potentially
filling that desire. Men, in general, tend
to look at things more transactionally than women. Once men get married, they see increasingly
less value in being on a social network. Which, of course, is why married men dominate LinkedIn - the most
transactional social network (with the exception of AdultFriendFinder). LinkedIn is all about getting information and
introductions now.

Women, on
the other, hand are much more relationship driven and less transactional than
men. They spend more time on social
networks building relationships, communicating with friends, making new
friends, and more. Married women put up
pictures of their immediate family on social networks and use their social
network profile as a family home page to share with friends and relatives.

With all
this happening, we’re witnessing a burgeoning gender gap.

Just take
a look at RockYou and Slide, two dominant photo widget sites, These sites are very clearly targeting young
women, down to the fact that they have traditional feminine colors (i.e. purple
and pink), glitter text everywhere, and are almost exclusively decorated with pictures
of women. They don’t even give men lip
service on their site. Both companies do
have a few niche Facebook applications that target men, but the fact these
applications are hidden and often marketed under different brands proves that
that women rule this space.

If you
are creating a new Web 2.0 site and you want to go viral, you target
women. Young women drive virality and so
all the new innovation is targeted towards them. That means that the gender gap on social
networks (and increasingly in all of social media) is only going to widen. More and more innovation will be targeted
towards women and they will continue to get more engaged. And while we expect men’s adoption to social
media to continue to increase, it will likely be slower than the rate of adoption
by women.

There may
actually be some truth in the old adage that “men are from Mars” and “women are
from Venus”, even in the online domain.